Wayland students help out on Community Service Day

On what may have been Wayland's first real spring morning this past week, a majority of the local high school students couldn't be found in the classroom.

Instead, they were scattered across town, doing good for the annual Community Service Day.

By Alison McCall/ Wicked Local Staff Writer

On what may have been Wayland’s first real spring morning this past week, a majority of the local high school students couldn’t be found in the classroom.

Instead, they were scattered across town, doing good for the annual Community Service Day.

"I feel great," high school sophomore Benjamin Jones said, while working at a Habitat for Humanity site in Wayland. "It’s a great thing to take part in, knowing we’re helping a family."

Students were sent to nearly 50 locations in Wayland Wednesday. There was a lot of clearing of trash and winter debris – students could be seen patrolling downtown streets and sidewalks for garbage, and cleaning up the beach, town nature trails, Dudley Pond, and Lakeview Cemetery.

Other work was with the young, the elderly, and the down-on-their-luck. Groups were deployed to the preschools and elementary schools to play with or read to children, to the homes of senior citizens for spring yard cleaning, to Wayland’s assisted living homes at Traditions and Sunrise, and to the high school’s kitchens to cook for homeless shelters.

"I think it’s a great opportunity for the students to be giving back to the Wayland community in all different ways," high school advisor Barb Wolfson said. "It’s also a really nice way for the students to bond … just being together outside of school."

With spring in the air, a handful of students were recruited for environmental work, too, preparing school gardens and even working on an Earth Day sculpture.

"I’m super grateful," said Bethann Monahan, a Wayland Green Team member working with high school students in the middle school garden Wednesday. She said high school students help with the gardens fairly regularly. "This is a lot of work, to do this. … I don’t know what I’d do without them."

"I’m here today because I want to give back to my community," said high school freshman Liam Henning.

Henning adopted a half-joking tone, belied by the enthusiasm with which he worked: "I want to show people that freshman can make a difference in the community and the world."

Back at the Habitat for Humanity site, students sorted rebar and wood pieces, and cleared debris from the base of a partially constructed home. High school senior Heather Wright paused to reflect on community service days of years past.

"I feel like it kind of bonded our school," she said, "and it helped our community as well."

When the morning of labor was finished, students went back to the high school for a celebratory service day party.